would it be safe to...

[ZEmadman]

...lift up the front end of the car, put it on jack stands and drive to see how many mph your car could hit? someone just bet me his civic si will top out higher then my mx. i figure this would be safer then killing ourselves on the interstate over 100 bucks.

he swears vtec is the end all be all of automotive technology

[papa roached]

we can tell you its about 137 MPH

[Tempus]

There's these little factors the physics guys like to call 'coefecient of drag' and 'wind resistance'...

Just because you could in theory manage xxx speed, in 5th gear, as the engine hits redline, it does NOT mean you car can actually go that fast, because going that fast means having enough power, at that RPM's, to overcome the atmospheric drag on the car. Some body modifications might actually HURT you top speed, if they create more turbulance, or wind resistance. A big wing for example might not be your friend where top speeds are concerned.

for many of us, peak power output happens sometime before the redline.. so often, the closer you get the the theoretical top speed of the vehicle, the less and less power you are getting out of the engine that can be used to overcome wind resistance.

Wanna know your top speed? take a trip out to the salt flats... that's a fairly safe place to see how fast you can go..

<small>[ August 15, 2004, 01:54 AM: Message edited by: Tempus ]</small>

[fry_81]

a car was designed to run with a load against it(the weight of the vehicle on the road) without this load you could possibly do some damage.

[lakersfan1]

You live in Indiana, and you mean to tell me there's no place to go top out your car on the freeway? I call BS. I've been on deserted stretches between Gary and Bloomington many a time going 125.

[mx3man83]

Yes, but he's saying he doesn't want to drive that fast. That's ok, some people don't. I've had my klze mx-3 at 139, maybe 140 couldn't quite tell on the freeway. I've got a body kit and 17 inch wheels as well. It was at about 7100 rpms.

[mx3man83]

I think the fastest I had my k8 was 127..not near redline, but it just couldn't pull any more.

[ZEmadman]

oh no, there's plenty of roads i could test it out(i live in indianapolis, but im well aware of plenty of 2 lane highways that go on for days

[lakersfan1]

Originally posted by ZEmadman:

anyone got reccomendations for a radar detector?

Jesus. Just have someone drive up a few miles ahead of you looking for cops and have a passenger in the car trying for top speed to verify the speedo. Radar detector.

[perhapsadingo8yerbaby]

Agreed. Pavement test that puppy if you must explore this. Gotta remember too that your suspension geometry of the front drive wheels would be hanging waaaay down with the car up on jackstands. Not a good idea at all to try running the car in gear that way.

<small>[ August 21, 2004, 08:20 AM: Message edited by: perhapsadingo8yerbaby ]</small>